Gaels Head to Terra Haute
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – The Iona men’s and women’s cross country teams head to Terra Haute, Indiana to run in the 2014 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
The Gaels women’s team earned an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship after their first place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Regional hosted at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. Iona is currently ranked 16th in the nation in the USTFCCCA pre-championship rankings and are first in the northeast. The Gaels are led by junior stand-out Kate Avery. Avery enters the NCAA Championship with back-to-back individual wins in both the MAAC Championship and the NCAA Regional. She posted the best ever MAAC Championship time, running a 19:15.26 6k. Iona finished the NCAA Regional with three top-ten finishers.
Iona’s men’s team took a spot in the NCAA Championship with an at large bid and will enter the championship ranked 8th in the nation by the USTFCCCA. The Gaels finished first in the MAAC and third at the NCAA Regional. At the NCAA Regional, Jake Byrne was the top runner, posting a time of 30:26.12 in the 10k race. The Gaels finished two competitors in the top ten of the field.
Indiana State will host the championships on November 22 at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women’s race will begin at noon ET, followed by the men’s race at approximately 1 p.m. A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast on NCAA.com.